Baseball season is almost here and that means one thing – it’s time for some props!
The Toronto Blue Jays enter this season on the heels of making the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and now everyone, including Vegas, has bigger expectations for them.
After signing Hyun-Jin Ryu last year, Toronto made a big splash for the second off-season in a row, adding George Springer to a lineup that already had some serious upside.
The 2017 World Series MVP joins a core that includes Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Aside from the big splash of Springer, the additions of Steven Matz and Marcus Semien tied to the expected growth from the rest of the lineup has the Blue Jays in the same conversation as the game’s best teams.
In this article, we’re going to take a look at where Toronto stacks up in World Series / divisional odds, and take a look at some individual player props.
WORLD SERIES
Believe it or not, Toronto enters the season with just the seventh-shortest odds to win the World Series.
Sitting at +2200, the Blue Jays are tied with the Houston Astros holding the fourth-best odds of any American League team to win the title, trailing the New York Yankees (+550), Chicago White Sox (+900), and Minnesota Twins (+1800).
Toronto’s odds to win the World Series have not been this low since they entered the 2016 season at +1450.
AL EAST
We have a clear-cut favourite to win the AL East this season, and it’s the New York Yankees.
Despite finishing second in the AL East last season, New York currently sits at -165 to win the division, with a wide margin between them and the Jays – who sit with the second-shortest odds.
Toronto and the Tampa Bay Rays are neck-and-neck, with the Jays sitting at +400 and Tampa Bay not far behind at +450.
The Boston Red Sox (+2000) and Baltimore Orioles (+6600) enter the season as longshots to make noise within the division.
The Blue Jays have won the division just once in the last 27 years, with their only win coming in 2015 when they opened the season at +330 to do so.
PLAYER TOTALS
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: O/U .295 AVG, 27.5 HR, 95.5 RBI
Is this the season Vladimir Guerrero Jr. shows the league what all the hype was about?
Vegas says yes.
Through two seasons with the Blue Jays, Guerrero Jr. has a .269 batting average, 24 home runs and 102 runs batted in over the span of 183 total games.
His numbers average out to 21 home runs and 90 runs batted in over the course of 162 games.
The 22-year-old tore the cover off the ball in Spring Training, with a .421 batting average. And while we all know that doesn’t lead to a direction correlation of a monster season, it’s a positive start to a big season for one of the game’s up-and-coming stars.
Baseball Reference has Guerrero Jr. projected to hit .269 with 20 HR and 80 RBI.
George Springer: O/U .280 AVG, 33.5 HR, 90.5 RBI
One of the best outfielders in the game is a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Springer, 31, hit 14 home runs last season in just 51 games, but had a batting average of below .280 for the second time in his last three seasons.
The three-time all-star has received MVP votes in 2017 and 2019 – both seasons which saw him hit more than 33 home runs with a batting average above .280.
In his seven seasons in the MLB, Springer has surpassed the 90 RBI mark just once.
Baseball Reference has Springer projected to hit .264 with 29 HR and 78 RBI.
Bo Bichette: O/U .284 AVG, 23.5 HR, 83.5 RBI
It’s only been 75 games in the MLB, but Bo Bichette probably couldn’t have scripted a better start to his career.
The shortstop has been fantastic with Toronto, and holds a career batting average of .307 and his 16 home runs through 75 games would have him on pace for 35 bombs over the course of 162 games.
Baseball Reference has Bichette projected to hit .286 with 17 home runs and 52 RBI.
Hyun-Jin Ryu: O/U 11.5 Wins, 165.5 strikeouts
Hyun-Jin Ryu’s first season in Toronto was solid.
The lefty made the transition to the AL East, making it look easy at times.
Ryu finished the season 5-2 with a 2.69 ERA and 72 strikeouts after his 12 starts.
His quality numbers helped lead Toronto back to the playoffs and landed him third in AL Cy Young voting.
He enters this season with the fifth-shortest odds to take home the Cy Young this season, with Gerrit Cole (+350) and Shane Bieber (+375) leading the pack.
Baseball Reference has Ryu projected to go 12-7 this season with 165 strikeouts in 168 innings.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.
The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.
DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.
RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.
Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.
Key moment
The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.
Key stat
Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.
Up next
Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.
Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.
“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.
“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.
First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.
Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.
No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.
“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.
Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.
“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.
This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.
The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.
“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”
Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.
Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.
“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”
The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.
Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.
“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”
LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.
“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.
The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.
Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.
“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.
“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”
Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.
Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.
Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.
Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
